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Damn dude, you’re actually making me think…I can usually roll titles off the top…Hmmm….

Detective Conan is pretty intellectually challenging at times…If you’re the type that likes to solves cases…Trust me you ain’t solving all these cases as some are hard as hell to solve (and ever so often an ep will cheat you^^)…There’s over 500 episodes so you’ll never run out of cases though…
Michiko E Hatchin is a good one that just ended…It’s not sci-fi or fantasy really (Unless awesomely running from the cops is fantasy for you)…Very hawt female character designs (realistically hawt), and tons of action…I’d put it in the category of Cowboy Bebop and SamChamploo if I was at gunpoint, but far more tangible than those 2 titles…

Kaiji is a pretty realistic non-fantasy…It’s very harsh and downright ruthless…It’s about this kid who has to play his way out of debt in a human gambling ring…There are many gambling games within the context of the show that will put your mind to work…One of the grittiest and shocking animes I’ve ever seen…

FLAG – This is a documentary type show about war told thru various taped vdieo recordings of the show’s main character…It features futuristic types of war machines, but it’s really about the reality of wartime in a more future setting…It’s really a serious depiction…No shonen-like stuff here…

Try googling some of these and decide for yourself…LOL, I usually gravitate toward titles that escape reality, so I don’t watch many “just in the real-world” type of animes, but I think there are many sci-fi and fantasy type shows that have a far more serious edge than the shows you are probably getting away from..I can suggest tons of those I’d say…

One more thing: Would you consider Detective Conan's body shrinking drug sci-fi?

I guess. It's more of a plot hook though.
Detective Conan has some 007 magic with some items, although these items aren't the center of the show. The show is a classic Detective genre at its heart.

I'm not sure how much suspension of belief you're willing to tolerate.
I'll probably look in the mystery genre since it will at least try to use logic. Most "realistic" ones tend to have some horror elements b/c they try to dive into the human mind which fear and like emotions tends to play a big part in motivations.

What I suggest:

MONSTER
Brief synapse:
It is set in Europe, where the protagonist is a famous neurosurgeon who is framed of murder. He then becomes a refugee from the law traveling many places to find the killer who he knows to be a boy whose life he saved many years ago.

I second Kaiji and I also recommend Akagi (same author).
Kaiji is explain in the previous post. Akagi is about mahjong but like Kaiji is about the human psyche.

FLAG (recommended above as well) is realistic, if you can accept the existence of mechs (not your average anime-style) and some technologies. It's setup is a documentary told through the eyes of a Journalist taking notes of this technological advancement and its use in an operation in the the Middle East.

If FLAG is exceptable maybe Jin-Roh as well?

Would the Sport genre work for you? (eg Boxing?)
Some of them will get into tactics and such.

Monster was my first choice, but how about Bartender and Hataraki Man? They're both set in the real world and have engaging stories to tell. I wouldn't call either of them intellectually demanding in the way Monster can be, but they're certainly realistic.

In the drama category, Shion no Ou tells the story of a young girl who witnessed her parents' brutal murder at age four. The anime takes place some seven years later when Shion is striving to become a professional Shougi player. The settings and the Shougi matches feel pretty realistic, more so than the mystery plot, and Shion herself is a strong and appealing heroine.

I hesitate to say whether Kure-nai is realistic. The protagonist has a rather unlikely fighting ability, and the plot has a few holes. Otherwise you'd probably find it to your liking.

REC is another show with a solid grounding in the real world. The main characters seem remarkably human from beginning to end. Again it won't stress your mental capabilities, but it's definitely worth watching.

Quote:

Yeah, I've seen some realistic sci-fi/fantasy lately but really...the majority of them are well..."have a far more serious edge." And yes please, i'd love to hear those suggestions. Thanks!

Planetes is the most "realistic" sci-fi show I can think of. Like my first two suggestions they have what's known as a "slice-of-life" feel.

The protagonist in Moyashimon can see microbes, but the story is more in the campus hijinks genre. You'll learn a lot about bacteria and fermentation along the way as well.

Monster was my first choice, but how about Bartender and Hataraki Man? They're both set in the real world and have engaging stories to tell. I wouldn't call either of them intellectually demanding in the way Monster can be, but they're certainly realistic.

In the drama category, Shion no Ou tells the story of a young girl who witnessed her parents' brutal murder at age four. The anime takes place some seven years later when Shion is striving to become a professional Shougi player. The settings and the Shougi matches feel pretty realistic, more so than the mystery plot, and Shion herself is a strong and appealing heroine.

I hesitate to say whether Kure-nai is realistic. The protagonist has a rather unlikely fighting ability, and the plot has a few holes. Otherwise you'd probably find it to your liking.

REC is another show with a solid grounding in the real world. The main characters seem remarkably human from beginning to end. Again it won't stress your mental capabilities, but it's definitely worth watching.

Planetes is the most "realistic" sci-fi show I can think of. Like my first two suggestions they have what's known as a "slice-of-life" feel.

The protagonist in Moyashimon can see microbes, but the story is more in the campus hijinks genre. You'll learn a lot about bacteria and fermentation along the way as well.

XD...is Bartender your favorite anime? Every suggestion i've seen you post has Bartender in it. ..hehe

OH! and thanks for the recommendations...but...lamentably, i really am focusing more on the brain "twitching" part..rather than the realistic bit. Without it, i yawn more often...animes seem to get predictable these days...

sorry, i didn't mean to sound braggy...

Last edited by Cipher; 2009-07-03 at 00:52.
Reason: a sudden realization!

Since you've evidently watched Kino no Tabi, the only other similar "non sci-fi", "non-fantasy" anime I can think of is Mushishi.

Quote:

Neither plants nor animals, "mushi" are primaeval micro-organisms that pre-date complex life as we know it. Their existence and appearance are unknown to many and only a limited number of humans are aware of them. Ginko is a "mushishi" who travels around to investigate and find out more about the mushi. In the process, he also lends a helping hand to people who face problems with supernatural occurances related to the mushi.

If even Mushishi falls under "fantasy" by your definition, then the list is very short indeed.

Production I.G's 20th anniversary project, Ghost Hound is set in the small town of Suiten, located in a remote corner of Kyushu. The story follows the experiences of three boys who have had traumatic childhood experiences, and who have discovered a way to transfer their souls into a parallel world known as the "Unseen World". However, something is amiss in the sleepy town, as apparitions start appearing in the real world, altering it in unpredictable ways.

What appears at first blush to be a bizarre (but sometimes sloppy) re-telling of Stand By Me turns out to be a convoluted exploration of the nature of reality or, more accurately, an illustration of how reality can be shaped by the way we perceive.

In a future where the world has been ravaged by a nuclear apocalypse, a colony of humans live in a domed city called Romdeau. There, their every need is served by an army of android servants known as autoreivs. However, a series of brutal murders shatter the illusion of utopia, forcing the authorities to despatch their top agent, Real Mayar, to investigate the matter. The clues lead her to an apparently meek man called Vincent, who holds the key to a mysterious event known as the Awakening.

An ambitious attempt to create a brooding, dystopian anime heavily inspired by Blade Runner and other sci-fi classics, Ergo Proxy swings wildly across many different themes — but with mixed results. Those who enjoy the overly obtuse "philosophy" of shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion will find plenty to like in Ergo Proxy but, for the rest, it comes across as a show that tries too hard to appear clever.

A man wakes up in an unfamiliar city on an unfamiliar planet, unable to remember his name. Before he could figure out what was going on, the authorities started pursuing him. Apparently, he was a wanted criminal, for reasons he did not know. He barely escaped and stole on board an intergalatic starship with the help a stranger. From then on, he travelled from planet to planet in an attempt to recover his identity, with his only clue being a locket that he was wearing when he woke up, containing the picture of an unknown woman.

Quite possibly one of the more innovative series to appear last year, Kaiba explores many familiar sci-fi themes through a completely different aesthetic style, one that appears more whimsical than real. The end result is a show that provokes emotions as easily as it engages the mind.

Kaiba OP and ED

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Cipher

So basically, anything thats smart...^-^...hehe..

...but still... the best recommendations would still be non-sci-fi/non-fantasy thinking animes. although i'd still love to hear anything slightly closer to that.

Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, had it all: incredible skill at his work, a rich and beautiful fiancee and a promising career at his hospital. However, after becoming disenchanted by hospital politics, he chose to save the life of a young boy over the life of the mayor. As a result he lost the support of the hospital director, as well as his position in the hospital and his fiancee. However, a short time later, the hospital director and the doctors who replaced him were murdered. As the prime suspect of the murders, Tenma did not have an easy time. Worse, he eventually discovered that the boy he had saved was the real culprit. In an effort to clear his name and to correct his past mistake, Tenma began travelling the length of Europe, in an attempt to uncover the truth behind the monster he had unwittingly unleashed onto the world.

It's one of the few anime series out there that's almost as good as a live-action show, if not better. It's a psychological tour de force heavily reminiscent of The Fugitive television series.

XD...is Bartender your favorite anime? Every suggestion i've seen you post has Bartender in it. ..hehe

It's probably in my top-ten. I actually haven't recommended it for quite a while, but it fit a couple of recent requests.

I'm not sure you're going to be very successful in your quest. First, outside of the high-school/romance/harem genres, non-fantasy, non-sci-fi series are pretty rare. Mostly they fall into the slice-of-life genre which typically doesn't have intellectually challenging plots. There are dramatic shows like Shion and Kure-nai, but they're not that common in recent seasons.

I also think many aspects of anime production and its intended audience militate against intellectualism. Anime for television is largely intended to entertain rather than challenge; that's what makes Monster so outstanding and so unusual. Shows intended for general audiences or for adults often have a large dose of sentimentality attached to them and are designed to appeal viscerally more than mentally. (Nodame Cantabile and the recent Ristorante Paradiso come to mind immediately.)

So in my experience, it's been the sci-fi and fantasy genres where most of the intellectually interesting shows have appeared. Noein, for instance, starts off from a particular interpretation of quantum theory and uses it to build a rather fantastical world of parallel universes in conflict. Dennou Coil explores a near-future world where virtual reality is commonplace, though the portrayals of the children and their interactions are quite realistic. Other "thinking-person's" shows with realistic settings in these genres include Baccano, Paranoia Agent, Boogiepop Phantom, Ergo Proxy, Oh! Edo Rocket, Seirei no Moribito, Junni Kokuki,Mononoke, and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

If you haven't seen Miyazaki's Mononoke Hime or Kon's Millennium Actress, I suggest both these movies to you.

Edit: I see TRL has made some of the same points with similar recommendations, though I'm not sure how a show about fighting demons (Mononoke) doesn't qualify as "fantasy."

There are quite many that I haven't watched yet, so I can't guarantee if its good or not.

Recommendations

Code Geass (15+): Quite a number of strategic battles, pretty impressive especially the battle between Lelouch and Mao, also a geass user.

Code Geass R2 (15+): I had rated this one slightly better than the prequel, don't remember why but I assume it most likely has more amazing strategic battles. The least to say, there are more mecha designs in this one.

Death Note (17+): The strategic battles in this one is really impressive, especially the fact that both the actions and tactics adopted by Yagami Light and L Lawliet were thought of by Tsugumi Ohba. I got to say that Oba-san would make a much better prime minister than any other available candidate as of now.

Ghost Hunt (17+): This one is generally about a group of young people going around solving supernatural cases, mostly involving spiritual entities by a different variety of methods. Although the guys aren't all that skilled but each member belongs to a different religion and possess different abilities. The leader is a psychic, the assistant is an ordinary girl, one of the guy is a part-time priest, a part-time wizard or mage, another is a part-time Buddhist monk, one is a part-time shrine maiden, and a female medium who is more popular than her actual medium abilities. Somehow, when the group works together, there isn't a case they couldn't solve.

Gundam Wing (15+): The anime explores the issues of pacifist ideals, terrorism, and war with relations to people living in the space colonies and elite-class government of the world. Generally, if you don't like mecha or politics, you will most likely find the anime to be somewhat boring. However, what I have to say is that most Gundam animes are focused on the issues of terrorism, war, and world peace. I cannot think of a Gundam series that don't have such elements in it. Nonetheless, Gundam Wing has quite a good soundtrack and a number of the mobile doll designs are pretty good. It is one of my favorite animes but of course, I do acknowledge the fact that there are quite a number of people who did not liked the anime at all.

Kara no Kyoukai (17+): All the films to some degree is like Ghost Hunt but much better as that it is a masterpiece from TYPE-MOON. Generally, there are multiple cases of supernatural-related homicides but there are a lot more to it.

Nabari no Ou (15+): This anime features BL as that the protagonist Miharu Rokujou tends to be rather friendly around Yoite throughout the entire anime. It is generally about the shinobi but it does relate to politics, even though you might consider the major theme of the anime as BL and shinobi battle instead. The most interesting point is that the anime is produced by Square-Enix, the maker of the most popular Final Fantasy series. Nabari no Ou, however is nothing like Final Fantasy.

Persona -trinity soul- (17+): The story takes place 10 years after the end of P3 and about 8 years after P4. If you haven't played the games, you might the anime to be pretty confusing and impressive. And the fact is that even if you are a long-time Shin Megami Tensei gamer, you will still find the anime to be quite confusing until you finished it from the start to end, mostly due to the concept of the Whale's Feather. It is sort of explained near the end of the series. The least to say, I understood it by the time I finished the anime.

RideBack (15+): I didn't liked the anime at all, it was too boring.. The female protagonist seemed out of place. She got dragged into this terrorist plot which makes no sense at all. It was supposed to be a battle between terrorists and a military faction that controls the government; somehow a young ex-ballet dancer girl got dragged into the center of it. Reminds me of Final Fantasy XII..

Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo (15+): This anime is pretty good, it is mainly politics with supernatural elements as the major theme. This is sort of like TOKKO, except the target audiences are supposedly younger. To some degree, it is thanks to Oryo-san that the amakudari practice had met an official end.

Suggestions

Crystal Blaze (17+): Personally, I found the anime to be rather boring, even though it is similar to Ghost Hunt as that it is about a group of people involved with a supernatural case.

tactics: Its something like Ghost Hunt but I am not exactly sure as that I only watched the first episode. I am going to watch the whole thing by the end of next week.

Spiral: I have no idea what the anime is about, except that it is similar to Ghost Hunt in which the story is about a guy investigating supernatural-related homicides.

I also think many aspects of anime production and its intended audience militate against intellectualism. Anime for television is largely intended to entertain rather than challenge; that's what makes Monster so outstanding and so unusual. Shows intended for general audiences or for adults often have a large dose of sentimentality attached to them and are designed to appeal viscerally more than mentally. (Nodame Cantabile and the recent Ristorante Paradiso come to mind immediately.)

well..it depends on how you define "entertainment." Strangely, to me challenge is entertainment. hehe XD

OH and thanks everyone i don't know how i could repay you guys. ^_^..no seriously ^-^"...how?

well..it depends on how you define "entertainment." Strangely, to me challenge is entertainment. hehe XD

OH and thanks everyone i don't know how i could repay you guys. ^_^..no seriously ^-^"...how?

Repay us by watching some of these suggestions, progressing your tatses in anime, and then passing those lessons on to the next poster in need of a suggestion...

Another show you might wanna try is Moonlight Mile...it's probably closest thing to Planetes that's out there, although I enjoy MM's shorter dosage of episodes and overall crisp realism in-terms of space travel...It's also less whiny in the drama department...Finally try Paranoia Agent if you want that "twitching" feeling from trying to figure out what the hell a show is about...When you find out what that show is REALLY ABOUT you'll probably twitch yourself right into a mental institute...

@SeijiSensei - Bartender is one heck of a layed back elixir isn't it? I actually asked for one of the more complicated drinks in a bar and got the WTFBBQ look and served an Amstel Light in frustration^^...

Ergo Proxy would have been a first-rate anime if it had deleted about 50% of the psychobabble and replaced it with something actually plot relevant. Or at least more fight scenes. The animation is beautiful, but it rarely gets to show it off since there just aren't too many battles.

I blame Evangelion for the slow-plodding philosophical mire of certain sci-fi series.

Ergo Proxy would have been a first-rate anime if it had deleted about 50% of the psychobabble and replaced it with something actually plot relevant. Or at least more fight scenes. The animation is beautiful, but it rarely gets to show it off since there just aren't too many battles.

I blame Evangelion for the slow-plodding philosophical mire of certain sci-fi series.

I liked the pace of ergo proxy; That said, I enjoyed it 100x more watching it for a second time a few months later because I could actually look around/think about it/etc during the episode. It is slow though.